An example of an ice bagging apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,368,608. This apparatus comprises an ice maker, which is placed above an ice collecting and bagging zone, and wherein the ice maker dispenses ice directly into a bag. This causes condensate to enter some of the ice bags during filling when the ice maker has completed a defrost cycle.
A disadvantage of this is that the water freezes the ice cubes together into bigger solid blocks, which is not desired by the end customer of the ice cubes.
Another example of an ice bagging apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,651. This apparatus comprises an ice collecting zone and an ice bagging zone. The ice collecting zone is a funnel shaped structure. The ice collected in the ice collecting zone is conveyed to the ice bagging zone through an upwardly directional auger in a tube. The ice is delivered to a plastic bag below a terminal end of the chute, said plastic bag being held into position within the ice bagging zone, and supplied from a stack of bags, by a tractor. The filled bag is placed in a distribution compartment.